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This is the first comprehensive study to explore the determinants of perceived sources of occupational stress among workers in the rapidly expanding Chinese offshore oil industry. In this study we surveyed 561 Chinese workers in a state-owned oil company using a questionnaire that measured occupational stress and Type A personality behaviour (TABP), social support and other socio-demographic data. Occupational stress was assessed by the Occupational Stress Scale, adapted from the questionnaire developed in previous studies (Cooper & Sutherland, 1987; Sutherland & Cooper, 1996). Using factor analyses, we identified nine sources of stress: ‘interface between job and family/social life’; ‘career and achievement’; ‘safety’; ‘management problems and relationship with workmates’; ‘physical environment of workplace’; ‘living environment’; ‘managerial role’; ‘ergonomics’; and ‘organizational structure’. We performed hierarchical regression analyses on each source of stress with variables reflecting socio-demograp...

This study addresses an under-researched outcome of occupational stress, namely the frequency of accidents at work and car accidents. A large, random sample of 778 vets and their auxiliary personnel was assessed in relation to socio-demographic variables, work perception and accident involvement. The study, involving veterinary practices in Germany, revealed that work-related injuries/accidents experienced during the previous 12-month period were significantly related to individual differences in job-related stress and job satisfaction. The average yearly number of car accidents was predicted by age, working climate and job satisfaction. Furthermore, driving accidents going to or from work during the previous year were calculated against distance travelled. Vets working in excess of 48 h/week displayed significantly more driving accidents when visiting clients. Results indicate heterogeneous correlations both between and within the two categories of car and work accidents, suggesting that these are differ...

This article examines the construct validity of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) in its Chinese version as well as its criterion-oriented validity against self-reported data on absenteeism and accidents, using a final sample of 1054 workers in the Chinese manufacturing and power industries. The divergent and convergent validities of five of the OSI scales—Job satisfaction, Physical ill-health, Mental ill-health, Type A behaviour and Control—were examined by a multimethod-multitrait matrix technique. Results indicated that the Chinese OSI had fairly good validity in relation to other well-established measures as well as relevant organizational behaviours.

This paper reports a comparative study of sources of occupational stress affecting the seven major occupational groups within the National Health Service. The groups are compared on seven dependent variables. These are the six sub-categories of stressors identified by Cooper and Marshall (1978) and measured by the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) (Cooper et al. 1988), and a total stress score that is derived by summing scores for each of the six sub-categories. Occupational groups differed significantly (p.05) in only two of the six sub-categories. In these cases occupational groups not normally associated with front-line care reported higher levels of stress than either doctors or nurses. The results show that high levels of occupational stress are experienced by all occupational groups within the NHS and the subsequent discussion argues for a more progressive research policy that gives adequate attention to ‘lower status’ groups, such as ancillary, works and maintenance, and administrative a...

This paper presents the findings of a large-scale nationwide investigation into stress among teachers in the UK, Data were collected via a questionnaire, from a random sample of 1790 teachers drawn from a cross-section of school types, sectors and teaching grades. Univariate analysis of the results revealed that teachers, as compared with other highly stressed occupational groups, experienced lower job satisfaction and poorer mental health. With regard to various subgroups in the sample, bivariate analysis revealed that it is necessary to consider the relationship between the level and nature of stress experienced and membership of a particular subgroup within the teaching profession (e.g. being a head teacher). Further examination of the data via the use of multivariate analysis revealed that ten reliable factors regarding ‘sources of job pressure’ could be obtained for this sample of teachers. Teachers were found to be reporting stress-related manifestations that were far higher than the popula...

A total of 255 managers (133 German and 123 British), predominantly from middle and upper management level working in diverse companies throughout both countries, responded to a survey assessing occupational stress and job satisfaction (Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI)) and leisure preferences (Leisure Interest Inventory (FIF)). A principal-components analysis of the correlation matrix between the 25 OSI subscales produced a 6–7 factor solution similar to that found for the British sample. The internal consistencies of the scales were satisfactory: they were lowest for ‘type A’ and ‘coping’, and highest for ‘job-related stress’ and ‘job satisfaction’. National differences were observed on several of the OSI subscales. German managers expressed higher sources of job-related pressure, particularly in terms of ‘home/work interface’, ‘organizational structure and climate’ and ‘career and achievement’, as well as lower job satisfaction on ‘the job itself and ‘organizational processes’. Furthermore,...

This study assessed the mental health, job satisfaction and sickness absence of comparative groups of 236 managers and 377 shopfloor workers in the brewing industry in Scotland and northern England. The results showed significant differences between the groups' scores on type A behaviour, locus of control, job satisfaction, and number of incidents of sickness absence. Multiple regression was used to elucidate similarities and differences between managers and shopfloor workers in the predictors of stress outcomes.

Robertson et al (1990) concluded that the Occupational Stress Indicator's (OSI) locus of control scale did not have an acceptable level of validity. The present study compared two groups of health service employees, categorized on the basis of their obtained OSI locus of control scale scores as having ‘high’ versus ‘low’ control, on a number of other OSI scales. Subjects who regard themselves as having ‘high’ control reported significantly less work pressure, employed certain coping strategies more frequently, reported lower ill health scores and were more job satisfied. The findings are theoretically consistent with the argument that the OSI locus of control scale is a subjective measure of an individual's appraisal of their control at work (i.e. a state measure) rather than a trait construct as measured by Rotter's scale (as used in the OSI validity study by Robertson et al).

Although a great deal of research has been carried out in the occupational stress field, little work has focused on the link between corporate financial performance and corporate culture on individual stress. The sample comprised senior marketing managers working in 14 electronics companies selected on the basis of their recent profit/loss performance. It was found that corporate financial performance and culture variables were more strongly associated with many of the felt stresses than were the individual and role-related predictors.

This article summarises research in the field of job relocation stress. It develops a model of the important factors underlying the process of job relocation and makes suggestions about future research.

This paper investigates the validity of four subscales of the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI). Data derived from a sample of British managers are used to generate a multitrait–multimethod matrix. The results obtained suggest that three of the four OSI sales (job satisfaction, mental health, type A behaviour) show acceptable validity. The fourth scale (locus of control) needs further development. Further analysis, using multiple regression procedures, was conducted to explore the validity of the theoretical ideas underlying the OSI. The results reveal that both sources of pressure at work and type A behaviour are linked to mental health and job satisfaction.